CancúnTom's Mexico

Puerto Moreles is a 45 min. drive from Cancun. We met up with our friends Al and Louise along with Al’s brother Brian and his wife Wanda. The 6 of us bought a snorkel tour of the reef which is just about 200 yards offshore from the beach. The cost was 200 pesos each (approx. $16.40 USD). Our boat was the “Stella Maris”. She came with a captain and the snorkeling guide Maurico. The tour  included masks, snorkels, and fins and was for two 45 min. snorkels of the reef in two different locations. The weather was perfect at about 88 F and the water temp was about 82 F. Basically it was hot and humid. We had some currents to deal with but the visibility was out to about 40 feet which is typical in the Caribbean. Our guide, Mauricio was excellent. He dove down once and reached into a small cave to coax out a small baby sting ray. He held it in his hands so we could touch it. I can tell you that the center where it’s spine is is very rough like the shell of a lobster, but it’s body became increasingly soft as you progressed to it’s outside edges. It was about 12″ x 18″ not including it’s tail and barb. What a thrill it was to touch a sting ray in the wild. Next he dug a lobster out of it’s cave so we could touch and feel it. Caribbean lobsters don’t have claws. Later he found a conch shell, brushed all the sand off of it so we could see the animal inside and how glass smooth it’s shell felt. (We did all this under water). Later we saw a flounder, a 4ft. Barracuda, and schools of various colorful fish. The coral reef was amazing to see. I don’t have a underwater camera so the only pictures I was able to get were while on the dock and in the boat. But we had a great time and we tipped the crew generously because they earned it.

This is the little sidewalk stand that we bought our tour from……….It’s just on the corner across from the park in the center of town, and next to the military compound.

Don’t forget to bargain for a good rate…….

The good ship Stella Maris……

The main dock just off the town square……..The building tipped on the beach in the background is a remnant of Hurricane Wilma……

We were waiting for the captain to bring our boat over to the dock…..

Wanda & Brian boarding the boat………..

l to r…….Suzie, Louise, & Al,

Our 3 Mermaids after the first snorkel………..Wanda, Louise, & Suzie

CancunTom, & Brian

Our crew, Maurico our snorkel guide and the Captain…….

Yours truly with the crew after returning from our adventure…..

Louise and Wanda with the crew

Afterward we walked down the street to “Mother-in-laws” restaurant for a few cold ones. Our Canadian friends were going on to the Kin-Ha cenote and other places so Suzie and I hung out in Puerto Moreles until the “Hola Asia” restaurant opened at 3pm ………..watch for my next installment which will be a review of this restaurant.